Holy shit, what the hell happened with the RoboCop series? It took only three years to produce the terrible abortion known as RoboCop 3, but look at the talent behind the camera?!? You have Fred Dekker directing, who we know can produce some excellent movies (The Monster Squad, Night of the Creeps) and Frank Miller returns yet again to see if this time he can get his script shot (guess what, he can’t). There certainly was some talent involved in RoboCop 3, even in the acting department with several known actors who probably were questioning their life choices once they figured how awful this movie was going to be.
The first real stab to the gut comes from Peter Weller not returning and Robert John Burke stepping into the metal suit. He doesn’t sound anything like Weller and doesn’t act like Weller. If Peter Weller was too busy–which he was at the time–don’t make a sequel. Fair and square. Of course, I haven’t even got to the worst part about RoboCop 3. That my folks is the pussification of the violence, toning it down to an offendable PG-13 rating and catering to kids. I guess at the time, RoboCop was adored by children, owing that adornment to the children’s cartoon produced in 1988, but what the producers didn’t understand is that the movies are something completely different and relied heavily on the over the top violence. Neutering the violence was the first in a long line of offences that RoboCop 3 produced and because of the PC toning of the movie, I will for the first time, make an R-Rated review on the Mind of Tatlock. Yes, my folks, Michael isn’t happy, not fucking happy at all. RoboCop 3 sucks so much fucking RoboDick; the movie deserves to be forgotten forever.
Unfortunately, Scream Factory didn’t get the memo and instead went ahead and produced an excellent Blu-ray for this shit sucking flick. I don’t know what to do. Do I give the Blu-ray a good review even though the movie contained on it is a festering pile of robotic dicks? I just don’t know.
PRODUCT INFORMATION
DISCS: 1
RUN-TIME: 105 min
ASPECT RATIO: 1.85:1
RESOLUTION: 1080p
AUDIO: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, 2.0
LANGUAGE: English
SUBTITLES: English
REGION: A/1
RATING: PG-13
PRODUCTION DATE: 1993
RELEASE DATE: Mar 21, 2017
PLOT SUMMARY
He’s Back… To Lay Down the Law!
It’s Megacop vs. Megacorp when Detroit’s cyborg crime-fighter hits the streets to protect the innocent – this time from corporate greed!
When the ruthless corporation that runs Motor City begins kicking families out of their homes to clear space for a profitable new real estate project, RoboCop (Robert John Burke, 2 Guns, Limitless) joins with a renegade band of freedom fighters to save them. But RoboCop must face some deadly foes, including a lethally efficient android and a dangerous gang of thugs. RoboCop’s latest arsenal of high-tech weaponry only somewhat evens the battlefield, as this lone superhero takes on the entire army of corporate militia in an all-out war to control Detroit! This last film in the trilogy is directed by cult filmmaker Fred Dekker (The Monster Squad, Night of the Creeps).
MOVIE REVIEW
After so many years past the second RoboCop movie, the city of Detroit has fallen apart even more. OCP now owns the entire city and is looking at finally building the Delta City that The Old Man dreamt about making. To build, you need to tear things down and what needs to be torn down is some housing development where a lot of poor people live. OCP comes up with the Rehabilitation program to help people move out and move on, usually resulting in people dying.
An uprising has started and a group of resistance leaders, lead by Bertha (CCH Pounder) is striking back at OCP every chance they can get. RoboCop gets mixed up with the resistance fighters after something very fucking stupid happens (hint, Nancy Allen shows up with a righteous hairdo and a quick cameo to once again play Anne Miller, spelt Ann Miller in this one for some fucking reason). Now that RoboCop is enemy number one for OCP, they bring over an android samurai to fight him and… ah, who gives a shit. This movie can go fuck itself.
I just can’t wrap my brain around why they went and gave us this terrible, terrible, shitty as hell movie. The story itself wouldn’t be so bad if the violence were there, along with the satire that the series is known for. Instead, the violence is long gone, and we got campy acting and people smiling at a kid actor who has done something sweet like making ED-209 loyal as a puppy. Oh, don’t get me started on RoboCop driving a pimp car or using a jetpack in a godawful looking action scene.
Now I know Fred Dekker didn’t set out to make a bad movie, and Dekker has said he wishes he didn’t bow down to the producers and cut the violence, but there must have been something he could have done to make this movie better. Possibly setting fire to the sets so they couldn’t continue filming, perhaps?
RoboCop 3 deserves to be shot into space and never seen again.
BLU-RAY OPINION
Sadly, Scream Factory intercepted that space capsule and produced a damn fine Blu-ray of RoboCop 3. What in gods name were they thinking? At least they didn’t waste their resources on making a new 2K transfer, as no amount of video clarity could save this turd burger. The video transfer we do get is serviceable, but it was hard to judge when I was always squinting with extreme pain. The same goes for the audio. It sounds perfectly acceptable, but who gives a shit when we are talking about RoboCop 3.
If there is one saving grace for the RoboCop 3 Blu-ray, that would be the special features where we can bask in the glory of how this monstrosity of a film ending up being made. It’s nice seeing actors trying their best to save face when it comes to talking about this movie. The special features pretty much are the only reason you should buy this Blu-ray, as each one of them is way more enjoyable than the actual film. Will that justify the price, though? Probably not.
SPECIAL FEATURES
- NEW Audio Commentary With Director Fred Dekker
- NEW Audio Commentary With The Makers Of “RoboDoc: The Creation Of RoboCop” Documentary – Gary Smart, Chris Griffiths And Eastwood Allen
- NEW Delta City Shuffle: The Making Of ROBOCOP 3 – Featuring Director Fred Dekker, Actors Nancy Allen, Bruce Locke, Producer Patrick Crowley, Cinematographer Gary Kibbe And Production Designer Hilda Stark
- NEW Robo-Vision: The FX Of ROBOCOP 3 – Featuring Peter Kuran, Phil Tippett, Craig Hayes, Kevin Kutchaver And Paul Gentry
- NEW The Corporate Ladder – An Interview With Actor Felton Perry
- NEW Training Otomo – An Interview With Actor Bruce Locke And Martial Arts Trainer Bill Ryusaki
- NEW War Machine – An Interview With RoboCop Gun Fabricator James Belohovek
- Theatrical Trailer
- Still Gallery
VERDICT
RoboCop 3 can go fuck itself. This robot deserved to be sent to the recycling centre and made into something more enjoyable, like rectal thermometers. Scream Factory somehow manages to make a wonderful Blu-ray, but special features alone aren’t worth the high cost when the movie itself is a steaming pile of cybernetic dung.
